PREAMBLE

There are different types of PPE available depending on the type of job or the type of hazards. PPE offers protection against injury or illness resulting from contact with physical, chemical, radiological. Mechanical, and electrical hazards. The use of PPE is the last line of protection and indicates that the hazards cannot be controlled through engineering, design, or administrative controls.

Common Personal Protection Equipment 

• eye and face protection

• foot and leg protection

• head protection

• hearing protection

• arm and hand protection

• protective clothing             

OSHA does not mandate specific PPE for specific circumstances OSHA does require that:

• employees identify hazards that require PPW
• select the appropriate safety equipment; and 
• train workers on their proper use.

Causes of PPE Failures

• Inadequate assessment by the employer – Failure of the employer to properly assess hazards can lead to workplace injuries, ranging from head trauma to chemical exposures.

• Poorly fitted PPE – in order for PPE to work properly, it should fit properly, It is particularly important when working with hazards such as heat, respiratory irritants, and chemicals.  

• Improper PPE usage – Eye protection can be aggravating and gloves can limit dexterity. Workers often find respiratory protective equipment uncomfortable and fell that it interferes with vision and communication. However, it is important to understand that the proper usage of PPE is essential for worker safety and well-being.

• Insufficient worker training – employers often fail to provide detailed training to workers on the proper use of PPE. The training should include:

• How to inspect PPE

• When to use PPE

• How to wear and adjust PPE

• Limitations of PPE

• How to remove, maintain, and store PPE safely

• Identifying and replacing damaged and worn PPE

Precautions about the use PPE

PPE programs are often plagued by the belief that once a piece of equipment is put on, the worker is totally protected. This is a false sense of security. Basic safety principles, such as housekeeping and engineering controls, must not be ignored.

PPE is designed to meet criteria which is only an approximation of real working conditions. PPE should not be used when hazards are greater than those for which that specific piece of equipment is designed. When it comes to the evaluation of potential hazards, uncertainties need to be taken into account. Unfortunately, PPE design criteria cannot cover all eventualities.

Wearing PPE should not in itself create a greater danger. For example, gloves prevent skin damage while working with moving equipment, but can create an entanglement hazard when working with a drill press or metal lathe.

Most regulatory agencies require that PPE not be used unless the employer has taken all the necessary measures in terms of engineering controls, work practices, administrative controls, and hygiene to control the hazard.

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PREAMBLE

The purpose of head protection in any employer’s PPE program is to help control the uncontrollable – which is to mitigate and/or eliminate hazards and exposure to injury while on the job.

Common Hazards to Guard your Head

Being at risk for a head injury is dependent on your work environment and its associated hazards, as not all working environments require head protection. However, when it is required, a worker must wear protection even when there are no apparent signs of danger. Industries like construction, power, oil and gas, mining, forestry, and others enforce such standards as the risk of head injury to workers is continuously present.

Employers must ensure their workers wear head protection if they are at risk of these common hazards:

1. Being struck by falling objects
2. Bumping their heads on fixed objects
3. Coming into contact with electrical hazards

These common hazards encompass most ways in which a potential injury could occur, and they can have different meanings depending on the work environment. Understanding the potential hazards at your workplace is imperative in assessing the type of PPE needed to keep injuries at bay.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of case-fatality, cognitive impairment, and post-injury functional disability. Furthermore, even mild TBI can have long-term consequences. Severe TBI is a catastrophic event that can potentially result in a devastating socioeconomic life since the sequelae affects multiple aspects of daily life; however, there was no evidence showing that therapeutic interventions after suffering severe TBI can effectively improve the functional outcome. Therefore, efforts directed towards awareness of hazard and injury prevention are emphasized to reduce the public health burden of TBI. Work-related TBI is caused mainly by falls, motor vehicle crashes, and assaults in manufacturing and construction industries, and it is avoidable by developing preventive measures. However, interventions with the goal of preventing TBI resulting from fall injuries are not available in the current workplace environment.

Safety helmets are useful protective equipment, which reduce the risk of TBI and death resulting from sports activities as well as motorcycle and bicycle accidents. However, the preventive effect of safety helmets on health outcomes resulting from work-related fall injuries has not been verified mainly because safety helmets have been primarily used to prevent workers from experiencing head injuries caused by falling or flying objects. 

Safety precautions that focus on reducing the risk of TBI resulting from fall injuries are limited in the current workplace environment. In addition, research studies that focus on the effect of safety helmets on reducing the risk of TBI resulting from work-related fall injuries are rare. 

Head Protection in the Workplace

There are many ways in which a worker can sustain a head injury within the workplace some of which can have devastating consequences. While some slip and fall accidents are often quite easy to avoid by keeping the work area free of water or chemical spills, accidents caused by defective equipment, those incurred when operating heavy machinery, or from falling object can be hard to detect.

Head injuries can be fatal and may affect an individual’s ability to work for the rest of their natural life. However, when important, yet often ignored, safety measures are regularly observed, such as wearing a hard hat for head protection, may avert millions of the nonfatal workplace injuries that workers experience each year.

Face Up to Proper Protection

It is critical that workers know how to shield their faces from specific hazards.

Doing a hazard assessment and establishing a policy are prerequisites to providing adequate face protection as part of a worker’s PPE.

The American National Standard Institute’s (ANSI) Z87.1-1989 standard for eye and face protection establishes criteria used by OSHA in its standard, 29 CFR 1910.133. ANSI Z87.1 states that face shields must only be worn over eye protection.

Suitable face protectors must be provided where there is a potential for injury to the face from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, potentially injurious light radiation or a combination of these.

Not all employers, though, have an adequate face protection policy or ensure that their employees adhere to it. Workers injured in the face who were surveyed in a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) study indicated that face protection was not normally used in their line of work, or it was not required for the type of work performed at the time of the accident.

Preamble Summary

There are ways that a business can stay in Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance. One simple way is to ensure that each worker is wearing the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at all times. Employers should also ensure that their workers stay up to date with OSHA education and training and make sure that such educational material is readily and regularly available to everyone within the organization.

Every worker must ensure that they are wearing the right PPE at all times.

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PREAMBLE

Hearing Loss

Any reduction in the normal ability to hear is referred to as a loss of hearing. A hearing loss can be either temporary
or permanent.

Other prime causes of permanent hearing loss are age, traumatic injuries (such as from explosions or gunfire), and
infection. Noise, however, is the major identifiable cause of hearing loss.

Causes a host of health problems, with painless symptoms that progress unnoticed until it is too late. Even more
disturbing is that the ears become accustomed to noise and the brain accepts it as normal, after a short while. Do
not be fooled though, noise-induced hearing loss cannot be reversed!

Loss of hearing from high noise makes it hard to hear warnings and directions and this can lead to accidents.
Though most employers make great effort to protect workers from noise hazards, sometimes, the problem is not
what is done but how it is done.

Some workplaces might not understand what level of noise is harmful and this creates room for error while
implementing controls. But safety regulations require employers to protect workers from excessive noise; this
means, having a program that regulates noise exposure through noise level assessments, hearing protection,
employee training and hearing tests. Without this program and its annual reviews, control measures are useless
and may even become hazardous.

Most damage due to noise is gradual and over time. Because of this, many people ignore or do not realize that
their hearing is being damaged. It becomes noticeable to an individual when it is harder to understand someone
talking or needing to turn the TV volume up.

Damage can also occur from a single loud impulse noise such as a gunshot or explosion. These types of noises
can rupture the eardrum or damage the bones in the middle ear. This kind of NIHL can be immediate and
permanent. Loud noise exposure can also cause tinnitus—a ringing, buzzing, or roaring in the ears or head. Tinnitus
may subside over time, but can sometimes continue constantly or occasionally throughout a person’s life. Hearing
loss and tinnitus can occur in one or both ears. Sometimes temporary hearing loss can subside however the event
that caused it can still cause long term damage to your hearing.

How the Ear is damaged from Noise

Hearing depends on a series of events that change sound waves in the air into electrical signals. Our auditory nerve
then carries these signals to the brain through a complex series of steps. To breakdown the process simply- the
sound waves travel through the ear and eventually move hair cells up and down in the ear that cause channels to
open up. This allows chemicals to rush into a cell that creates an electrical signal that translates the sound into
something we can understand.

Most noise-induced hearing loss is caused by the damage and eventual death of these hair cells. Unlike bird and
amphibian hair cells, human hair cells don’t grow back. They are gone for good.

Noise Exposure Hazards

Over time, exposure to noise can cause the following problems:

•  Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
•  High blood pressure
• Fatigue.

Noise-induced hearing loss is the most common occupational disease suffered by worker. It often happens
gradually, so workers may not realize that loud noise from their job is damaging their hearing. By the time they do
realize it, it’s too late—the damage is permanent and can’t be reversed.

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PREAMBLE

Foot injuries are among the most common workers’ compensation injuries, including breaks, fractures and heel injuries. The human foot and ankle contain 26 bones, 33 joints and more than a hundred muscles, tendons and ligaments, so it’s no wonder injuries to the foot can be especially painful – and slow to heal.  

Specific examples of workplace foot injuries

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PREAMBLE

RETAIL WORKERS

If you are a worker under age 25, you are more likely than more experienced workers to be injured. Most people think that retail is a safe place to work, and mostly it is. However, each year thousands of young retail workers are injured, and some even die. To protect yourself and others, you need to know these facts:

• Retail workplaces may have hazards that could injure you or make you ill.
• You can learn to identify and even prevent potential work hazards.
• Your supervisor should help you to stay safe by giving safety training in a language and words that you can understand.

What is Retail?

A retail business sells items directly to the people who use them. These are some examples of retail items and stores:

• Beverages and specialty food
• Building materials
• Department stores
• Home centers
• Motor vehicles and parts
• Nurseries/gardening supplies
• Pet supplies
• Sporting goods, hobbies, books, and music
• Supermarkets and smaller groceries
• Tire and auto stores
• Warehouse clubs and superstores

Safety in the Retail Workplace

Every workplace, including retail, has hazards. 

The more you know about hazards, the more you can take part in creating a safe work environment. Each year about 100,000 young workers (16–24 years old) miss work after being hurt on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2012, about 23,000 of these young workers—or 1 of every 4—was injured in a retail job.

Injuries happen for many reasons. Young workers don’t always get enough training. They don’t always know what questions they should ask to stay safe. Sometimes they are asked to do jobs they’re not supposed to do (by law). However, if you become familiar with the best practices described here, you will be able to recognize potential hazards at your workplace and to work safely.

Understanding Retail 

Before understanding the concept of retail, here are a few terminologies.

• Market – Any system or place where parties are engaged in exchange of either goods or services is called as market. The parties are often called as buyers and sellers. The seller offers his goods or services to the buyer who in return purchases it in exchange of money.
• Goods – Tangible (things which can be seen and touched) physical products which are transferred from a seller to the buyer (CONSUMER) to fulfill the latter’s need are called as goods.

The Supply chain

• Manufacturers – Manufacturers are the ones who are involved in production of goods with the help of machines, labour and raw materials.
• Wholesaler – The wholesaler is the one who purchases the goods from the manufacturers and sells to the retailers in large numbers but at a lower price. A wholesaler never sells goods directly to the end users.
• Retailer – A retailer comes at the end of the supply chain who sells the products in small quantities to the end users as per their requirement and need.

The end user goes to the retailer to buy the goods (PRODUCTS) in small quantities to satisfy needs and demands. The complete process is also called as SHOPPING.

• Shopping – The process of purchasing products by the consumer is called as shopping. However there are certain cases where shopping does not always end in buying of products. Sometimes individuals do go for shopping but return home empty handed. Such a shopping is merely for fun and is called window shopping. In window shopping, individuals generally go to the market, check out various options and their prices but do not buy anything. This kind of shopping helps to break the monotony.

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PREAMBLE

A large number of construction workers are killed every year while they are working construction in high traffic areas or fixing roads. Exponentially more workers are injured while doing the same work. These risks can be mitigated through awareness efforts by employers and employees.

Construction highway workers do yeoman service to the community by making our roads and highways safer for all drivers. They need to know that they can be safe while doing so.

Warmer weather means that roadwork season is in full effect which means more and more work zones are popping up on our interstates, highways, and streets. It’s also the time of year when more people are on the road traveling greater distances to the beach, mountains and other vacation spots.

Imagine if your “office” was smack in the middle of multiple lanes of traffic, or a narrow two-lane road with no shoulder. You are just feet, sometimes inches away, from speeding vehicles, semi-trucks, and heavy equipment. Even with your required reflective clothing and other PPE, you know who will likely win if some driver isn’t paying attention. 

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INCIDENT

Mr. Provancher on October 9th, 2012 with a co-worker Eric Williams, were replacing pipes at an oil pumping location in Dunn County, North Dakota. One of the pipes burst, releasing a cloud of hydrogen sulfide, a highly toxic colorless gas which carries a distinctive “rotten egg” odder.  

Hight concentrations of the gas, according to an OSHA fact sheet, “can cause shock, convulsions, inability to breathe, extremely rapid unconsciousness, coma and death. Effects can occur within a few breaths, and possibly a single breath.”

Williams, who himself was hit with a heavy dose of the gas, ran from the building, but returned when he saw that Provancher was still inside and dragged him out of the building. Williams attempted CPR on his co- worker until an ambulance arrived.

Provancher was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Dickinson, North Dakota. He died two days later, on October 11th.

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At 36, Eder Morales was in the prime of his life. We don’t know much about Morales, except that he died young. Too young.

What are the odds of one of your workers dying after temporarily removing his safety harness 25 feet (7.6 meters) above the ground?

Morales met that fate in an accident that many might describe as freak – sort of like removing your seatbelt for a few seconds to take your coat off and becoming involved in a crash that you would have survived had you been buckled in.

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INCIDENT

An Edmonton Alberta manufacturing company will pay a fine and fund a new fall prevention program after a veteran welder died on the job three years ago.

Cessco Fabrication and Engineering Ltd. pleaded guilty in Edmonton Alberta provincial court to a single charge of failing to ensure a worker used a fall protection system for the Jan. 19, 2016, death of Barry Maitland.

Maitland, a pressure welder for 29 years, was fatally injured after falling more than five metres (17 feet) from the top of a liquified natural gas storage vessel on which he was preforming a weld. He later died in hospital.

“We miss him,” Linda Maitland, his widow, said outside court. “The kids still talk about him today. My granddaughter especially — ‘I miss papa, I wish he was here.’ Because you don’t say goodbye.”

Maitland had just started a night shift in a fabrication shop at Cessco’s Edmonton facility at 7310 99 St. on the day of the accident.

Maitland, 52, was setting up to perform a weld on top of the LNG equipment, which measured 28 metres long and just over four metres in diameter. At some point, he stepped off an aerial work platform used to hold his welding equipment.

An agreed statement of facts states Maitland did not anchor the lanyard on his fall protection harness before stepping off the platform. A short time later, the night shift supervisor and another worker heard Maitland hit the concrete floor, though no one witnessed the fall itself.

Maitland was rushed to the University of Alberta Hospital, where he died.

His son Steven Maitland, who also works at Cessco, was on the earlier shift and rushed back to site to find police officers everywhere, Linda Maitland said. He then went to the hospital.

“Steven found out his dad had died, and he told the doctor out in the hall that he wanted to tell me and not the doctor,” she said.

The parties agreed that while Cessco’s fall protection plan complied with occupational health and safety legislation, it did not specifically cover welding work on the LNG vessels.

Under a joint submission on sentencing, Cessco will pay a $5,000 fine and pay the Manufacturer’s Health and Safety Association $170,000 to create an enhanced fall protection program.

Defence lawyer Christopher Spasoff said the sentence was not an attempt to “put a dollar value on the life of Mr. Maitland,” but rather to apply the law. 

An autopsy found Maitland’s cause of death was blunt cranial trauma, according to the agreed facts. It also found evidence of alcohol in his system and severe heart disease, including an enlarged heart.

A medical examiner said it was possible Maitland experienced symptoms of angina or irregular heartbeat, which could have contributed to the fall.

Court heard Maitland was known as a very safety conscious worker who regularly raised issues during safety meetings. His family described him as “anal retentive when it came to safety.”

He loved to cook, and was famous within his family for his homemade pizzas. He also mentored family members entering the welding trade.

“The boys were constantly trying to upstage their dad — ‘I’m a better welder, I can do this better than you can,’” Linda Maitland recalled. “Barry would be like, ‘Yeah, no, I don’t think so, let’s go try.’”

Linda Maitland said that while she received compensation from Occupational Health and Safety for her husband’s death, she will end up having to sell her home.

As for the sentence, “I’m OK with it,” she said. “They’re looking into becoming more safe, and I know they’re remorseful. The right guys that should have heard my victim impact statement aren’t here.”

Cessco president Dave Hummel, who was not president at the time of the accident, was visibly shaken as he addressed the court. He said the day of Maitland’s death is “forever etched in our history.”  

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La motosierra eléctrica es la herramienta adecuada para el trabajo cuando el trabajo es derribar ramas o árboles enteros. Sin embargo, las motosierras son peligrosas. Cuando se activan, se cortan cualquier cosa en su camino, incluyendo un dedo, una mano o una extremidad. Debido a que estas herramientas no tienen cerebro, usted necesita decirles a sus trabajadores que usen las sus propias motosierras. Aquí hay algunos consejos de entrenamiento.

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Harness and Lanyards are the integral components of Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAs)

As with any type of PPE, harnesses and lanyards must be a last resort for fall protection. It must first be determined if the fall hazard can be eliminated by removing the need to work at heights or near the unprotected hazard. If this is infeasible, what engineering controls can be put in place? For example, can you install guard rails, cover the opening block or restrict access to unprotected areas, use as scissor lift instead of a ladder, or install a personal fall restraint system? If none of these are feasible, or are used and additional fall protection is necessary, then personal fall arrest system must be used.

OSHA requires employers to provide for fall protection according the list mentioned above. All hazards are to be addressed using the hierarchy of controls.

1. Eliminate the hazards
2. Substitution 
3. Engineering controls
4. Administrative Controls, and 
5. Personal Protective Equipment – Fall arrest system

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Silicosis is a disabling, nonreversible, and sometimes fatal lung disease caused by overexposure to respirable crystalline silica. Overexposure to dust that contains microscopic particles of crystalline silica can cause scar tissue to form in the lungs, which reduces their ability to extract oxygen from the air we breathe. Typical sand found at the beach does not pose a silicosis threat. Each year, more than 250 American workers die with silicosis. There is no cure for the disease, but it is 100 percent preventable if employers, workers, and health professionals work together to reduce exposures.

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The pre-job briefing sets the tone for the day. You need to have a good structure for your pre-job briefing that forces the crew to review the work and potential hazards.

Failure to identify job hazards is a major concern for workers. If an employee doesn’t know the dangers involved in their job, they won’t be able to protect against them.

Employee failure to identify and grasp jobsite hazards has led to numerous accidents. Before ever stepping foot on a work site, employees need to know what hazards exist and what steps to take to reduce the risk of accident and injury.

Job briefings help you plan your work and ensure employee safety, protect equipment, and protect the public from whatever could go wrong. 

Even the most experienced workers need regular reminders of what hazards are around them. The best way to keep them aware of hazards is to start EVERY day with a pre-job briefing. Many regulatory agencies require at least one briefing before each work day or shift

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Respiratory hazards are invisible and can have severe impact on the health and safety of a worker. A respiratory hazard can be a particulate, gas or vapor, and include airborne contaminants, biological contaminants, dusts, mists, fumes, and gases, or oxygen-deficient atmospheres. Some respiratory health problems have long-term consequences and dramatically reduce quality of living due to difficulty-breathing.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as respirators, are equipment worn by workers to minimize exposure to the occupational hazards of chemical, biological and other airborne substances. A hazard cannot be eliminated by the PPE, but the risk of injury can be reduced.

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PREAMBLE

Molten metal iron works, plastic and chemical plants harbor very serious and dangerous materials/products and work practices. Compare this work environment with white collar office environment. 

Compared to the molten metal and massive machines found in workplaces, office hazards seem pretty tame.

The white-collar office environment has a plethora of ways office employees are injured. 

1. Slips, trips and falls. 
2. Fires. 
3. Chemical hazards. 
4. Lifting. 
5. Heavy objects. 
6. Office entanglement. 
7. Office collisions             

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PREAMBLE

Our hands, wrists and fingers are valuable tools, the most valuable we'll ever own.
A hand injury, such as the loss of a finger, a broken bone, nerve damage, MSD, or skin disorder, can
interfere with a worker’s job performance and quality of life – and even end a career. Work-related hand
injuries are also costly to the employer, in terms of lost work time and productivity, and higher insurance
rates.
27 bones, 20 muscles and dozens of tendons and ligaments. Add blood vessels and nerves to feed and
control the moving parts, and you have one of the more brain power than other body parts, your hands
are involved in almost everything you do. Yet many things are done without any deliberate thought or
anticipation of danger.
Because it is so well designed and useful, the hand is usually where the action is and is the part of the body
most likely to be injured. In the Ontario mining industry, approximately 50% of all hand and finger injuries
are cuts or puncture wounds. One out of every 10 hand injuries results from the improper use of hand
tools and four out of ten injuries occur in the handling of materials. Among the leading causes of hand and
finger injuries are failure to follow procedures, using the wrong tool for the job, inattention, and failure to
wear personal protective equipment.
Traumatic injuries, contact injuries and repetitive motion injuries are the most common types of hand
injuries.
Traumatic injuries can occur from the careless use of tools or machinery. Hands and fingers may get
caught, pinched or crushed in chains, wheels, rollers, or gears. They may be punctured, torn or cut by
spiked or jagged tools and edges that shear or chop.
Contact injuries can occur from contact with solvents, acids, cleaning solutions, flammable liquids and
other substances that burn or injure tissue.
Safety precautions to minimize contact injuries include reading product labels and Material Safety Data
Sheets, using the correct gloves or barrier cream, and washing your hands frequently.
When tasks require repeated, rapid hand movements for long periods of time, repetitive motion injuries
can occur. These injuries often disable the soft tissue and joints of the body. Examples of repetitive motion
injuries include tendinitis, tenosynovitis, “tennis elbow,” carpal tunnel syndrome and white finger. To avoid
muscle strain in your hands, change your grip, hand position or motion. If possible, alternate tasks to give
your hands a rest.
White Finger is also known as Raynaud’s phenomenon due to HandArm Vibration exposure (HAVS).
Workers exposed to vibration are the most likely to show signs of this disease. Repeated surveys find that
about 50% of people using rock drills or other tools with high vibration have HAVS. Hand-held power tools
such as chain saws, jackhammers and pneumatic rock drillers and chippers are the primary culprits.
Damage can also extend to nerves, muscles, bones and joints of the hand and arm. This condition is a
blood circulation and nerve disorder that is aggravated by the exposure to cold temperatures. Attacks can
occur at work or at home, such a while fishing, golfing, or touching cold objects. Severe cases of Raynaud’s
phenomenon may cause disability, and rare, severe cases can lead to a breakdown of the skin and
gangrene.

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Los resbalones, tropezones y caídas son uno de los incidentes de seguridad más comunes en todos los lugares de trabajo. Aunque puede parecer que los trabajadores no pueden lesionarse seriamente por, digamos, caerse sobre un cordón de extensión, el hecho es que las lesiones sufridas en resbalones, tropezones y caídas son la causa de muchas lesiones en el lugar de trabajo.

Adapte esta lista de verificación a su entorno de trabajo y utilícela cuando inspeccione su lugar de trabajo:

1) Identificar los peligros que podrían causar que los trabajadores resbalen, tropiecen o se caigan; y 2) Documentar las acciones necesarias para abordar los peligros identificados.

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Many employers with more than 10 employees are required to keep a record of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. Minor injuries requiring first aid only do not need to be recorded.

• How does OSHA define a recordable injury or illness?
• How does OSHA define first aid?

This information helps employers, workers and OSHA evaluate the safety of a workplace, understand industry hazards, and implement worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards –preventing future workplace injuries and illnesses.

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Radiation or Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR), is energy in a wave form. An Electromagnetic Field (EMF) is made up of an electric field and a magnetic field. EMFs occur naturally and also come from sources created by human activity. Natural EMFs comes from sources such as the earth’s own magnetic field, electrical storms, the sun and even the body’s own essential electric activity. Manufactured EMFs, come from overhead power lines, electric wiring in buildings, radio towers, and laser tools. It is these that are of more concern. EMR can be either ionizing or non-ionizing.

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PREAMBLE

How safety-conscious are you when you are off-the-job? You can do a lot to increase your safety just by paying attention to your attitude and habits. You may be relaxing, but you can still relax safely!

Many of the same dangers in the workplace also exist away from the office… slips and falls at home, driving accidents, or not using personal protective equipment while playing sports. The danger is that we don’t apply the same seriousness to safety when we’re not at work.

Remember awareness is a 24/7/365 mindset. There’s no clocking out!

The practice of using a lock and tag to isolate power from a piece of manufacturing equipment is not uncommon at work, but you may not realize that more injuries from failure of locking out happen at home and they can be prevented.

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QUESTION

What are the steps to eliminate the negative effects of hearing loss in the workplace?

1. Hearing protective devices, tinnitus syndrome, and workplace accommodations.
2. Disclosure of hearing loss, managing hearing loss in workplace, workplace accommodations.
3. Engineering and administrative controls, disclosure of hearing Loss, audiometric evaluation.
4. Noise exposure monitoring, managing hearing loss in workplace, evaluations and motivation.

ANSWER

2. Disclosure of hearing loss, managing hearing loss in workplace, workplace accommodations.

WHY IS IT RIGHT

Sometimes after being subjected to loud noises, people experience deafness that goes away after a while. This is called temporary threshold shift. But after sudden, extremely loud explosive noises, or more usually prolonged lower level exposures to noise over a number of years, permanent hearing loss can occur. It may be that the damage caused is only noticeable when it becomes severe enough to interfere with daily life. This incurable hearing loss may mean that the individual’s family complains about the television being too loud, the individual cannot keep up with conversations in a group, or they have trouble using the telephone. Eventually everything becomes muffled and people find it difficult to catch sounds like ’t’, ’d’ and ’s’, so they confuse similar words. Social situations can become very difficult.

Age and general fitness are no protection from hearing loss – young people can be damaged as easily as the old. Someone in their mid-twenties can have the hearing that would be expected in a 65 year old. Once ears have been damaged by noise there is no cure.

Hearing loss is not the only problem. Tinnitus or ringing in the ears may be caused as well. Most people suffer temporary tinnitus from time to time, often after a spell in a noisy place, but with noise-damaged ears it can become permanent. Some people find it more distressing than the hearing loss.

Methods to treat hearing related conditions ie. tinnitus

Permanent hearing damage, which can be caused immediately by sudden, extremely loud, explosive noises, or gradually due to prolonged exposure noise, is thought to be incurable.

Tinnitus (ringing, whistling, buzzing or humming in the ears) arises from excessive exposure to noise. This distressing condition can also lead to disturbed sleep. Unfortunately there is no treatment for noise-induced tinnitus.

NOISE INDUCED HEARING LOSS

Many tools, equipment, and processes in the workplace generate high levels of noise that will have a negative effect on the hearing of the exposed workers. Short loud bursts of noise such as explosions or gun shots can damage our ears in a short time of being exposed. Less hazardous noise such as woodworking equipment, heavy equipment, and machinery can lead to damage over an extended amount of time being exposed to the noise.

It’s hard to believe that noise can cause permanent damage to your hearing. It’s important to protect yourself against noise hazards.

Hearing Loss has a dramatic impact in our economy bourne out by statistics.

The steps to eliminate the negative effects of hearing loss, economically and personally, is done through Disclosure of Hearing Loss, Workplace Accommodations and Managing Hearing Loss in the Workplace.

Hearing is precious. Once we diminish or lose our hearing we can never fully recover it. Both on the job and at home there are many sources of noise which can damage our hearing. These sounds can damage sensitive structures in the inner ear and cause noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Approximately 26 million Americans have some type of noise-induced hearing loss. According to the CDC, over 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels at work each year. Occupational hearing loss is one of the most common workplace injuries today in the United States.

Ears Damaged from Noise

Hearing depends on a series of events that change sound waves in the air into electrical signals. Our auditory nerve then carries these signals to the brain through a complex series of steps. To breakdown the process simply- the sound waves travel through the ear and eventually move hair cells up and down in the ear that cause channels to open up. This allows chemicals to rush into a cell that creates an electrical signal that translates the sound into something we can understand.

Most noise-induced hearing loss is caused by the damage and eventual death of these hair cells. Unlike bird and amphibian hair cells, human hair cells don’t grow back. They are gone for good.

Noise Induced Hearing Loss – Signs and Symptoms

Most damage due to noise is gradual and over time. Because of this, many people ignore or do not realize that their hearing is being damaged. It becomes noticeable to an individual when it is harder to understand someone talking or needing to turn the TV volume up.

Damage can also occur from a single loud impulse noise such as a gunshot or explosion. These types of noises can rupture the eardrum or damage the bones in the middle ear. This kind of NIHL can be immediate and permanent. Loud noise exposure can also cause tinnitus—a ringing, buzzing, or roaring in the ears or head. Tinnitus may subside over time, but can sometimes continue constantly or occasionally throughout a person’s life. Hearing loss and tinnitus can occur in one or both ears. Sometimes temporary hearing loss can subside however the event that caused it can still cause long term damage to your hearing.

The NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) for occupational noise exposure (85 decibels, A-weighted, as an 8-hour time-weighted average [85 dBA as an 8-hr TWA]) was reevaluated using contemporary risk assessment techniques and incorporating the 4000-hertz (Hz) audiometric frequency in the definition of hearing impairment. The new risk assessment reaffirms support for the 85-dBA REL. With a 40-year lifetime exposure at the 85-dBA REL, the excess risk of developing occupational NIHL is 8%—considerably lower than the 25% excess risk at the 90-dBA permissible exposure limit (PEL) currently enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). NIOSH recommends a 3-dB exchange rate, which is more firmly supported by scientific evidence. The 5-dB exchange rate is still used by OSHA and MSHA, but the 3-dB exchange rate has been increasingly supported by national and international consensus. NIOSH recommends an improved criterion for significant threshold shift: an increase of 15 dB in the hearing threshold level (HTL) at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, or 6000 Hz in either ear, as determined by two consecutive audiometric tests. The new criterion has the advantages of a high identification rate and a low false-positive rate. The NIOSH criterion no longer recommends age correction on individual audiograms. OSHA currently allows age correction only as an option. Finally, regarding hearing protection, NIOSH indicated that the noise reduction rating (NRR), a single-number, laboratory-derived rating that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires to be shown on the label of each hearing protector sold in the United States is not adequate. In calculating the noise exposure to the wearer of a hearing protector at work, NIOSH recommends derating the NRR by subtracting from the NRR 25%, 50%, and 70% for earmuffs, formable earplugs, and all other earplugs, respectively. Today, the issue of hearing protection attenuation is best addressed by testing the performance of hearing protection objectively. This fit testing technology is a huge advancement in efforts to save workers’ hearing. Finally, the NIOSH criteria document provides recommendations for the management of hearing loss prevention programs (HLPPs) for workers whose noise exposures equal or exceed 85 dBA.

WHY IS EVERYTHING ELSE WRONG

Your employer is responsible for figuring out the right hearing protection equipment for you to use, and keeping the workplace as free as possible from noise hazards.

How to protect your hearing:

• Reducethe noise reaching your ears. Nothing can totally block sound, but some hearing protection devices block out part of the noise.
• Electronic hearing protectiondevices permit conversations and warnings to reach the ear, but prevent harmful sound-pressure levels. Other electronic hearing protectors pick up and amplify desirable sounds. Some earmuffs or earplugs combine with communication systems for use in noisy areas.
• Earmuffs– filled with liquid or foam – come in various styles for function and comfort. Earmuffs are fitted with a headband made of metal or plastic. Some headbands can be folded or put around the front or back of the neck in various positions. Cooling pads are even available for earmuffs worn in hot work environments.
• Earplugscan be pre-molded to fit all wearers, or custom molded to fit exactly. They can be made expandable or non-expandable, and may be either reusable or disposable. Earplugs are available on cords you can wear around your neck so you can take earplugs out and put them in easily.
• Ensureyour hearing protection is comfortable, fits properly and is compatible with other personal protective equipment (PPE) such as a hardhat.
• Check outspecially-designed hearing protectors made to wear with other PPE. They attach to slots and brackets on hardhats or helmets for combined hearing, head and face protection.
• Cooperatewith your workplace’s hearing protection program. Take the regular hearing tests and wear recommended personal protective equipment. Take good care of your PPE by cleaning it according to the manufacturer’s recommendations and replacing it as needed.

A. The essential parts of a Hearing Loss Prevention Program are as follows:

• Identify and assess areas and activities where employees may be exposed to:
• high noise levels that may exceed 85 decibels (dBA) averaged over an eight-hour period,
• extreme noise levels of 115 dBA at any time (greater than one second)
• extreme impact noise levels of 140 dBC (less than one second)
• Reduce or control noise using engineering and administrative controls, where feasible.
• Post signs at noisy areas and require hearing protectors.
• Identify employees who need hearing protection.
• Provide hearing protectors to employees and train them in their use.
• Provide baseline and annual audiometric hearing exams to employees.

B. Responsibilities of Managers, Supervisors and Investigators

• Identify areas of excessive noise and affected employees.
• Coordinate sound level surveys and personnel monitoring for noise exposure, conducted by EH&S, to provide a quantitative assessment of noise hazards in your workplace.
• If employees are exposed to noise above 90 dBA averaged over the work shift, implement engineering or administrative controls.
• Ensure individuals exposed to noise levels at or above 85 dBA averaged over an 8-hour work shift are enrolled in the Hearing Loss Prevention Program, receive training and medical surveillance.
• Ensure employees are provided with baseline and annual audiometric exams at the UW Speech and Hearing Clinic, or equivalent, through EH&S.
• Ensure staff has taken the Hearing Conservation training.
• Provide at least two types of hearing protectors to employees if controls cannot be implemented, and for all employees exposed to noise levels at or over 85 dBA averaged over an 8-hour work shift, greater than 115 dBA any time and 140 dBC impact noise any time.
• Ensure hearing protectors are worn properly.
• Post caution signs where noise may exceed 85 dBA averaged over an 8-hour work shift.
• Post danger signs where noise may exceed 115 dBA, even intermittently.
• Ensure that reports of high noise are investigated.
• Maintain records as required.

C. Responsibilities of Employees

• Report elevated noise levels, noisy equipment and hearing protector problems to supervisor.
• Take training on Hearing Conservation.
• Choose the most comfortable, effective hearing protection devices that fit well. Remember that the BEST protector is one you’ll wear. Earplugs are available in different sizes and shapes to fit different ear canals; earmuffs are easy to put on and take off for short-term loud noise exposure. A combination of earmuffs and earplugs may be needed.
• Wear hearing protectors in posted noise areas.
• Keep hearing protectors clean and replace when necessary.
• Take baseline and annual audiogram tests.

PREAMBLE

Mine safety is a broad term referring to the practice of controlling and managing a wide range of hazards associated with the life cycle of mining-related activities. Mine safety practice involves the implementation of recognized hazard controls and/or reduction of risks associated with mining activities to legally, socially and morally acceptable levels. While the fundamental principle of mine safety is to remove health and safety risks to mine workers, mining safety practice may also focus on the reduction of risks to plant (machinery) together with the structure and orebody of the mine.

INCIDENT

Coal Miner Dies in 4th Mining Fatality of 2018
More Mining Deaths Prompt Calls for Safety Stand-Downs
In 2006, the deaths of two more West Virginia coal miners yesterday which brought the state’s mining death toll which 16 prompted Gov. Joe Manchin to call for a statewide mine safety stand-down.

“This means that starting with the current shift, and each new shift after that, the mine companies, supervisors and the miners themselves are to engage in a thorough review of safety procedures before any work is to continue,” Manchin said. He added that the Mine Safety and Health Administration has agreed to send additional inspectors to West Virginia to respond to what MSHA Administrator David Dye called “the unusually high number of mine fatalities” in the state this year.

Dye asked coal mines across the country to conduct a stand-down for safety on Feb. 6. While 2005 was the safest year for mining on record, so far this year 16 in West Virginia, two in Kentucky and one miner from Utah have died for a total of 19.

“I am asking miners and management at every mine operation to do the right thing: Take 1 hour out for safety’s sake this Monday and stand down for safety, to be proactive in preventing future accidents and saving lives,” Dye said. “This Monday, we urge that extra time be taken, at the beginning of each shift and before the start of any mining activity, to go over the hazards involved with mining and the vital safeguards that need to be taken.”

MSHA said it will send packets of safety information to stakeholders for discussion at coal mines as well as post information regarding the safety stand-down on its Web site.
Manchin said that there were incidents at three separate coal mines yesterday at two underground mines and one surface mine. The two fatalities occurred at Elk Run Coal Co.’s Black Castle Mine and Long Branch Energy’s No. 18 Tunnel Mine, according to MSHA.

In response to yesterday’s mining fatalities, United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts urged union coal mines in West Virginia “to undertake a meticulous inspection of their mines.” Roberts said the Long Branch Energy mine is represented by UMWA.

If operators of union mines fail to cooperate with inspections, Roberts added, “the union will consider taking further action under the authority of the union’s collective bargaining agreements with the operators.”

“We support Gov. Manchin’s call for a stand-down of mines in West Virginia until there is a thorough review of safety procedures,” Roberts said. “At non-union mines, that means the governor will have to rely on the word of the operator that the mine has carried out his directive. The UMWA will be taking that a step further at union mines with the order for a full safety inspection.”
Today, in 2020 Gov Joe Manchin is still in office in West Virginia as a strong advance of the Coal industry. But fatalities in coal mining operations still occur across the USA and elsewhere in the world.

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INCIDENT  

She reported her boss had sexually harassed her — then she was fired

It started the day Wanda met her new boss.

After a successful interview, the man who would be overseeing her fundraising work walked her out down some stairs. As they made small talk, Wanda, felt his hands press on her shoulders and squeeze them.

The way he touched her was odd, Wanda thought when she got home. But she was thrilled by the prospect of her new job, something that made it easier to dismiss the encounter.

A few days into her new role, it became clear this was part of a pattern of inappropriate behavior.

Things escalated after Wanda caught her boss staring at her breasts repeatedly.

“He looked at my breasts, looked down at his genital area, looked back (at me), opened his palms and looked back down,” Wanda recalled.

“I’m in a state of shock that any man would do that and just keep going and pretend that nothing happened.”

Wanda says she confronted her boss about some of his behavior, but he denied it and told her he didn’t know what she was talking about.

As someone who comes from an abusive background, Wanda says her experience was even more traumatizing — especially the gaslighting.

Wanda decided to report the harassment to her employer in the spring of 2018, three years after it began. She says it took time to start the reporting process because her boss wielded a lot of power and was well-liked.

Wanda detailed the harassment to the department at her workplace that handled such cases and they conducted an internal investigation.

“For me to go up against a powerful person among the powerful circle by any measure … was tough,” she says.

“(I felt) no one would believe me and everyone would blame me.”

After five months, the department determined her boss’s behavior did not violate the workplace’s harassment code.

Further, the investigator said there was a lack of reliable evidence to support that the alleged conduct was sexual in nature.

Shortly after the department closed the investigation, Wanda went on sick leave. Less than two weeks later, she was terminated.

“I was devastated. I was emotionally crushed,” she says.

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PREAMBLE

Machine guarding is a safety feature on or around manufacturing or other engineering equipment consisting of a shield or device covering hazardous areas of a machine to prevent contact with body parts or to control hazards like chips or sparks from exiting the machine. Machine guarding provides a means to protect humans from injury while working nearby or while operating equipment. It is often the first line of defense to protect operators from injury while working on or around industrial machinery during normal operations.

Manufacturers design their machines to protect operators from coming into contact with hazardous parts causing amputations, lacerations, and crushing injuries. Many of these injuries were caused by unsafe operation or improper maintenance. Machine guards, or barriers between the operator and dangerous parts, are one of the most common strategies to prevent these injuries.

Types of Machine Guards

There are several different types of machine guards. The most common types of machine guards are:

• Fixed guards
• Interlocking guards
• Adjustable guards
• Self-adjusting guards

INCIDENT

On Nov. 16, 2016, Nissan North America sent 46-year-old maintenance technician Dennis Pinkston to investigate an equipment breakdown.

Pinkston, along with the rest of the maintenance crew at the company’s Smyrna, Tenn. plant, discovered the roller drive motor for an elevator, which is designed to move car seat pallets from one conveyor system to another, was not working.

They removed some machine guarding and set to work. However, when checking whether the elevator correctly was functioning, the crew neglected to place the machine guarding back where it had been, according to Tennessee OSHA.

OSHA described the following actions that led to Dennis Pinkston’s death:

“After replacing the drive motor, the employee was testing the lift table. He leaned into an opening to look under the lift table as the table was being raised. He was struck by a counterbalance weight that was descending as the lift table was elevated. A guard for the opening had been removed for the repair and not replaced to cover the opening before the lift table was activated.”

Pinkston was struck in the back of the head.  The counterweight, which weighed 1,275 lbs. pushed his head downward, where his head was caught between the weight and the top of the metal guarding system.

Emergency services were called, and he was transported to a nearby hospital but did not survive.

Pinkston had been a maintenance technician at Nissan North America since 2004 and was authorized to perform service on machines and equipment. He had received training on lockout/tagout procedures.

However, Tennessee OSHA’s subsequent investigation revealed that while lockout/tagout steps were taken, the mesh machine guard was not replaced and Pinkston was not positioned far enough away from the machinery while performing a final test.

The agency discovered that Nissan North America had failed to perform routine equipment inspections or check whether it complied with the 29 CFR 1910.147 standard which details periodic inspections. In addition, Nissan received a Repeat -Serious violation because lockout/tagout devices were not replaced once maintenance was completed. The company previously had been cited for this in 2014.

Nissan North America has 30 days to pay a total of $29,000 as a result of the incident.

Despite Pinkston’s death, the company received an overall “effective” rate for its safety and health program.

“The safety and well-being of our employees is always our top priority,” the company said in a media statement. “We dedicate extensive time and resources to safety programs and training at the plant. Nissan is working through TOSHA’s established process to contest these citations and bring this matter to a close. We also continue to work on determining what can be done to prevent future occurrences.”

“I was mad at first, but once I read the report — I mean the way the reports wrote and all that, it’s obviously just an accident,” Pinkston’s brother told local TV outlet WSMV 4 in an interview. “It’s an accident that could’ve been avoided if the guard had been put back in place. After reading that, that’s going to bother me for a long time. It could’ve very well been avoided.”

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INCIDENT

A comparison in real time between a Near-Miss/Close Call and a fatality.

See a video online in which workers in Rio de Janeiro are repairing the 125-foot-high Christ the Redeemer statue after it was struck by lightning. In the video, the workers are tied off but are using a hammer and chisel that are not tied off and below is a crowd of people. In the middle of the video, one of the workers answers a call from his son on his cell phone, which also is not tied off.

In another example, a man delivering sheet rock to a construction site in Jersey City was killed by a tape measure. The independent contractor for a trucking company was leaning into a car window to speak with someone and when he pulled his head out, he was struck by a one-pound tape measure that had slipped out of a worker’s hands 50 stories above.

Needless to say, if that worker on the statue in Rio de Janeiro had dropped his hammer and it had hit a visitor below, it likely would have caused a fatality.

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